About Us

A little bit of history...

Mithras Candle was born from a diverse range of sources, but primarily from a decade of exposure to the connections between light, health and photobiology at the Light Research Program of Thomas Jefferson University, under the mentorship of the brilliant researcher and mystic Dr. George C. Brainard.

Mithras himself is an ancient god of Persian/Zoroastrian origin. A protector of truth and a god of illumination, Mithras was later incorporated into a mystery cult in ancient Rome. It is thought that beeswax candles first made an appearance in the west during Roman Mithraic mystery rituals. His symbol frequently involves a lion, sometimes with a bee in its mouth, which we have adopted.

Ben Warfield, the chandler and proprietor, is looking to candle-making as a small but luminous mirror to reflect a portion of his diverse interests in art, science, history and conservation. Among numerous other moods, Ben burns beeswax candles while writing and performing ambient and electronic music, and hopes to find more ways to integrate candle culture back into the zeitgeist.